United will call on Ben Foster for the trip to Derby on
Saturday as injury to Edwin van der Sar and a one-match suspension
for Tomasz Kuszczak force Sir Alex Ferguson into giving the
promising young goalkeeper his Reds debut ahead of
schedule.
Van der Sar has failed to recover from a groin strain picked
up in the FA Cup defeat to Portsmouth, while Kuszczak's red card in
the clash sees him sit out the trip to Pride Park.
Foster, who had been tipped to go out on loan for
the rest of the season, made a successsful return to action
last week for the Reserves having spent the last eight months on
the sidelines recovering from knee ligament damage.
"Edwin misses the game, so it's a debut for Ben Foster," said Sir
Alex. "I had planned to send him out on loan. But with Edwin
is injured and Tomasz Kuszczak is suspended.
"Having been out for the best part of a year and with only one
Reserves game behind, it's a big challenge for Ben. But I have no
fears. He will be OK. What encourages me is that he has got
fantastic presence, speed and agility.
"His rehabilitation went completely as planned, and he has been in
full training for about a month so there are no question marks
over his fitness levels. What we can't tell is how match sharp he
is. He's only had one game. But he has the assets that give me
confidence he will do well."
It has taken the 24-year-old almost three years to get a shot at
his United debut. After arriving at Old Trafford in the summer of
2005 from Stoke City, he was immediately farmed out to Watford
for two seasons. He excelled at Vicarage Road and eventually
earned his first England cap.
That spell away from the club, combined with his injury, has
prevented him from playing a single competitive game for the Reds,
until now.
Sir Alex should also be able to call on Louis
Saha against the Premier League's basement club.
The Frenchman was pencilled in to start against Portsmouth
last week, but he pulled up in the warm-up for United's FA Cup tie
last weekend with a knee complaint.
But the Reds boss will hope to have the powerful forward at his
disposal. He added: "Louis trained on Thursday and if he comes
through training on Friday then he will be involved against
Derby."
can see foster in action le but y ..saha
should play 